Recovery Memoirs

From an early age, Amber van de Bunt knew she wasn't like the other girls in town. From childhood struggles with depression and eating disorders, her years as a topless dancer in Florida, and an eventual abortion and suicide attempt, to her rebirth in Los Angeles as a porn star named Karmen Karma, overcoming her relationship with her abusive mother, and her struggle to maintain a clean and sober lifestyle - van de Bunt's life has been a roller coaster. With humor, alacrity, and profound insight, she reveals her deepest, darkest secrets and pulls no punches - least of all with herself.

Mike Majlak was a 17-year-old from a loving middle-class family in Milford, Connecticut, when he got caught up in the opioid epidemic that swept the nation. For close to a decade thereafter, his life was a wasteland of darkness and despair. While his peers were graduating from college, buying homes, getting married, having kids, and leading normal lives, Mike was snorting Oxycontin, climbing out of cars at gunpoint, and burying his childhood friends.

Helen Knott, a highly accomplished Indigenous woman, seems to have it all. But in her memoir, she offers a different perspective. In My Own Moccasins is an unflinching account of addiction, intergenerational trauma, and the wounds brought on by sexual violence. It is also the story of sisterhood...

Success is more than just the culmination of a process. It's a journey defined by clear vision, expansive thinking, hard work, perseverance, an open mind, and service. But is that all? Of course not. Many struggle to break free from self-pity and doubt, failing to embrace their purpose. Hindered by limiting beliefs, they give up too early. Tough times become invaluable lessons, then memories. This book is not a "get-rich-quick" manual but a genuine account of the passion, self-healing, and resilience it takes.

When Memoirs was first published in 1975, it created quite a bit of turbulence in the media - though long self-identified as a gay man, Williams' candor about his love life, sexual encounters, and drug use was found shocking in and of itself, and such revelations by America's greatest living playwright were called "a raw display of private life" by the New York Times Book Review. As it turns out, Williams' look back at his life is not quite so scandalous as it once seemed.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE HILARY WESTON WRITERS’ TRUST PRIZE FOR NONFICTION FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY TIME’s 10 Best Books of 2025 Named a Best Book of 2025 by The Globe and Mail CBC The New Yorker The...

Kate, born to abusive, drug addicted parents, identifies an inner God voice when she is very young. This voice, and the support of her grandmother, helps her overcome her circumstances instead of falling victim to them. However, as she grows up she finds that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, and she discovers that she is an addict herself. Deciding not to go down the path her parents went, she rises above her circumstances again and chooses the path of recovery.

From a leading voice in the field, an in-depth audio guide to healing PTSD in the physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions. The aftermath of a single event or repeated trauma can profoundly shape how we experience the rest of our lives. Whether it occurred in childhood, a recent...

Born into one of the wealthiest families in America—he was the youngest son of Standard Oil scion John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and the celebrated patron of modern art Abby Aldrich Rockefeller—David Rockefeller has carried his birthright into a distinguished life of his own. His dealings with...

I Hear U: A Memoir of Recovery and Reckoning is the second book in The Life After Trilogy, a deeply human exploration of what comes after survival. Following the near-death medical crisis chronicled in I See U, this memoir moves beyond the ICU and into the long, unspoken aftermath—where healing is uneven, silence is heavy, and survival no longer feels like victory. Through intimate reflection and unflinching honesty, Michael Paul Patrick examines Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS), medical trauma, survivor's guilt, and the quiet unraveling that often follows discharge.

#1 BESTSELLER "This book is at times startling, yet very real and down to earth . . . I saw [Brantt] in all phases of his life and his career. I consider him a friend and an ally. Pain Killer sends a strong message." --Darryl Sutter, former NHL player, coach, and GM From the only player to be...

At the age of 24, Jordan Barnes woke up next to a lifeless body, rifled through his dead friends’ pockets for any remaining heroin, and went right back to using. Strung out and homeless during the supposed best years of his life, there was no clear way out of the opioid crisis ravaging the streets of Portland, Oregon. But though Jordan had long accepted his fate, his parents still held out hope and would do everything in their power to get him the help he so desperately needed.

When Kerry Cohen reached her early 40s, she realized she had a drinking problem - just enough to blur the edges of her life that had become a monotony of working, carpooling the kids to school, and everyday distractions. What she also realized was that she wasn't the only one. Lush is a gripping memoir that examines Kerry's struggles with alcohol, a struggle that a rising number of middle-aged women are facing. Wonderfully poignant and relatable, Lush follows Kerry as she attempts to rediscover the awe in her life, leaving mistakes, regrets, and the bottle behind her.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR New York Times Book Review The New Yorker Entertainment Weekly Time Washington Post San Francisco Chronicle Chicago Tribune Christian Science Monitor Slate St. Louise Post-Dispatch Cleveland Plain Dealer Seattle Times NBCC...

This program is read by the author. Part memoir and part social critique, Drinking Games is about how one woman drank and lived— and how, for her, the last drink was just the beginning. On paper, Sarah Levy’s life was on track. She was 28, living in New York City, working a great job, and...

His grandfather’s lynching in the deep South, the murders of his two older brothers, and his verbally harsh and absent father all worked together to form Jason Wilson’s childhood. But it was his decision to acknowledge his emotions and yield to God’s call on his life that made Wilson the man and leader he is today. As the founder of one of the country’s most esteemed youth organizations, Wilson explains the dangers men face in our culture’s definition of “masculinity” and gives listeners hope that healing is possible.

At seven, Brandon was a skateboard prodigy. By the time he was fourteen, he was living the dream. Discovered by skate legends Bucky Lasek and Tony Hawk. Touring the US with the elite Powell-Peralta team. Signing autographs and appearing in films and magazines. Brandon had it all. Then he got hooked on heroin. Soon he was living a down-and-out life in a garage, begging for change, and hustling to score his next fix. He stole from his family and friends. He pushed the fantasy that everything was okay, that he was going to rehab, getting help, and getting better. But it was all a lie.

MIND ESTRANGED tells the story of Bethany’s life, from her years as a promising university student through her gradual descent into schizophrenia, and unexpected, full recovery. While slowly losing her sanity, she traveled the world. She returned to the U.S. unable to work or study—and soon found herself homeless, delusional, and controlled by voices that talked to her and gave her orders in her mind. Bethany’s memoir enables the listener to enter into the mind of a person with schizophrenia, homeless and roaming the streets.

The main goal of this book is to identify and define the characteristics of Trauma Bonding as a result of Narcissistic Abuse and Complex PTSD. Many survivors of abuse feel hopeless and trapped in their situation, not knowing that there is a way out. Survivors of this abuse usually get stuck in the repetitive patterns and don't recognize how to escape an unhealthy situation. Many survivors of abuse were never role modeled as to what a healthy relationship looks like, and therefore don't actually identify that their relationship is tragically unhealthy.

Called the Jane Goodall of wolves, world-renowned wildlife biologist Diane Boyd has spent four decades studying and advocating for wolves in the wilds of Montana near Glacier National Park. When she started in the 1970s, she was the only female biologist in the United States researching and radio-collaring wild wolves. With her two dogs for company, she faced the rigors of the Montana winter in an isolated cabin.